Stream operas, ballet and concerts from the comfort of your home

Opera houses, symphonies, orchestras and ballet companies from around the world are streaming live, rather than cancelling, with some also offering free access to digital catalogues and past performances

The Royal Opera House, in London
The Royal Opera House, in London

Opera houses, symphonies, orchestras and ballet companies from around the world are streaming live, rather than cancelling their performance due to the COVID-19 epidemic.   

While these performances may be played to empty rows, they are instead reaching digital audiences from around the world, some also offering free access to digital catalogues and past performances.

Here is a list of some of the events and performances available to stream online:

The Berliner Philharmoniker
The Berliner Philharmoniker

The Berliner Philharmoniker

The Berliner Philharmoniker, which has closed its doors until at least 19 April, is continuing to play for its audience in its digital concert hall. The orchestra has opened its digital library of performances with more than 600 shows. Notably are the performances conducted by Simon Rattle, the orchestra’s principal conductor for 16 years.     

OperaVision will be streaming Madam Butterfly from the Royal Swedish Opera
OperaVision will be streaming Madam Butterfly from the Royal Swedish Opera

OperaVision

Supported by the European Union’s Creative Europe program, OperaVision offers free recorded performances from around the world, including Madam butterfly from the Royal Swedish Opera, Tosca at the Polish National Opera and from many other opera companies from 17 countries under the editorial supervision of Opera Europa.

Acis and Galatea at The Royal Opera
Acis and Galatea at The Royal Opera

The Royal Opera House

For those interested in Ballet the Royal Opera House will be offering a free program broadcasted online, musical masterclasses and cultural insights that get deep inside both ballet and opera and offer a unique look behind the scenes at one of the most famous cultural institutions.

The program includes the following productions which can be found on the ROH’s Facebook and YouTube channels:

  • Acis and Galatea, The Royal Opera, 2009 – 3 April 2020, 7pm GMT
  • Così fan tutte, The Royal Opera, 2010 – 10 April 2020, 7pm GMT
  • The Metamorphosis, The Royal Ballet, 2013 – 17 April 2020, 7pm GMT

The opera house is also offering a range of operas and other ballets which include La Traviata and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with new titles being added constantly.   

The King and I  is avalible to watch onBroadwayHD
The King and I is avalible to watch onBroadwayHD

BroadwayHD

A streaming service set up in 2015, BroadwayHD is offering New York and West End London Broadway theatre shows for free for seven days. The service is available worldwide. On the platform, subscribers can find a combination shows including Cats, The King and I and Sound of Music, as well as Broadway performances filmed by the platform such as Kinky Boots and 42nd Street.

The LA Philharmonic
The LA Philharmonic

The LA Philharmonic

The LA Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel, Classical KUSC (Los Angeles), and Classical KDFC (San Francisco) are teaming up remotely to present at Home with Gustavo, which will be broadcast four times a week in English and once a week in Spanish. The limited-run series will be streamed internationally online.

The Metropolitan Opera will be streaming Götterdämmerung
The Metropolitan Opera will be streaming Götterdämmerung

The Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is offering a whole week of Wagner relays including a complete Ring cycle, culminating with Götterdämmerung. The opera house is also streaming the production Verdi which was filmed in 2014 and was one of the first to showcase Anna Netrebko’s new career as a dramatic soprano. She has swept the board as Lady Macbeth since. Her colleagues here include Joseph Calleja and Željko Lučić, conducted by Fabio Luisi.

Bavarian State Opera will be broadcasting Lucia di Lammermoor
Bavarian State Opera will be broadcasting Lucia di Lammermoor

Bavarian State Opera

Bavarian State Opera is broadcasting Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) starring Diana Damrau’s Lucia in one of her signature roles, she is joined by Pavol Breslik and conductor Kirill Petrenko. Barbara Wysocka’s 2015 production takes the Scottish heroine on a journey to the US of the Kennedy era.

Vienna State Opera will be streaming its world reowned Roméo et Juliette (Gounod)
Vienna State Opera will be streaming its world reowned Roméo et Juliette (Gounod)

Vienna State Opera

The Vienna State Opera is offering Roméo et Juliette (Gounod), which is available to watch from 29 March. Up-and-coming soprano Aida Garifullina joins established star tenor Juan Diego Flórez in this Vienna production of Gounod’s opera from 2017. Plácido Domingo conducts.